BARRY O’Neill became just the third rider in the history of point-to-point racing here to reach the 800-winner milestone, as he joined that select club of Derek O’Connor and Jamie Codd with the success of Kingston Coole at Necarne last weekend.

Like his 700th victory two years earlier, it was again a David Christie-trained horse that brought him that notable success, and it was a winner that kickstarted what would have been a welcome change of fortunes for the reigning champion, as he went on to ride a further five winners across the four days of point-to-point action last weekend.

By his own high standards, the first quarter of 2024 will undoubtedly have been a frustratingly quieter spell than he has been accustomed to, not aided by a short injury absence.

In the first four months of the calendar year, O’Neill rode just 11 winners, highlighting how significant of a gear change his six winners last weekend was.

What a crucial time for it to come too, having recently been usurped at the top of the standings by Rob James, who had been able to establish a four-winner advantage ahead of last weekend’s action.

Contrasting fortunes

This season has been a tale of contrasting fortunes for the title contenders. While O’Neill flew into an early lead through the autumn, his campaign stalled with the turn of the year, perfectly contrasting James’ season.

James rode just four winners in the autumn, trailing O’Neill by 15 winners entering into January, but since then, his success in the spring term has been unmatched, riding 33 winners in 2024 to bring him into contention for the overall title honours for the first time.

With last weekend favouring O’Neill and his six-winner haul to James’ four, the defending champion has been able to claw the deficit back to just two winners entering into what will be three important weekends for both riders.

More immediately, the first of this season’s champions will be crowned tomorrow afternoon in Loughrea as the Galway Blazers host the final fixture of the season in the western region.

Outcome

As the smallest region, with a number of the province’s fixtures having dropped off the calendar in the past decade, a handful of winners can decide the outcome of the title. Therefore, with a bumper entry of 214, tomorrow’s fixture could significantly alter the standings.

Going into tomorrow’s racing at Loughrea, there is currently a three-way tie at the top of the region’s standings, with Alan O’Sullivan, Derek O’Connor, and Pa King all having ridden five winners in the region.

That latter-named pair had shared the spoils last year, and they find themselves just one winner ahead of another trio of contenders in Susie Doyle, Brian Lawless, and the title-chasing O’Neill, who are all snapping at their heels.

STRADBALLY will host its first two-day fixture next weekend, with an additional meeting having been added to the calendar for Saturday, May 18th, to account for the cancellation of their April fixture.

The card will consist of a four-year-old maiden, a four-year-old auction maiden, a five-year-old mares’ maiden, an unplaced maiden, an open lightweight for non-graded winners and a winners’ race.

The Stradbally pair will be two of just six fixtures remaining after this weekend’s action, but the backlog of horses needing a run clearly remains sizeable, as evidenced by the entries for tomorrow’s fixtures at Bartlemy and Loughrea.

The 214 entries for Loughrea is only usurped by last month’s Borris House card, while Bartlemy has become the third fixture in recent weeks to break the 200-entry mark.

Those sizeable entries have resulted in the start times for both of tomorrow’s fixtures being brought forward by one hour to 1pm. That decision will be welcomed by many.

Earlier times

At last year’s end-of-season review meeting, riders requested that hunts consider starting those fixtures that fall outside of the winter months at the earlier time of 1pm.

There has been no whole-scale movement towards that this season. However, with the exception of the Louth Foxhounds fixture at Tattersalls, all the other fixtures with 2.30pm start times have moved forward to 2pm.

It is a particularly sensible decision for tomorrow’s fixture to move the start time forward as there was frustration expressed by many that a similar decision was not taken a fortnight ago, when a large entry produced multiple divides.

With fewer fixtures to split the entry this weekend, the chance of even more divides is much stronger.

While the threat of fading light is not the issue it is in December, staff are often travelling long distances to bring horses to fixtures, and this is a sensible recognition of that.

JOHN Nallen looks to have unearthed another very smart prospect with his Minella Premier (94+) making an impressive winning debut at Ballindenisk.

Being able to quicken 12 lengths clear of 12 rivals on ‘Good’ ground is a particularly notable feat, highlighting his complete superiority.

The first division of that same contest saw Cahier’s Den (90+) finish out his race strongly in the manner of a strong stayer. On the same afternoon at Stowlin, High Dancer (91+) had the form in the book to ensure he was not winning out of turn, continuing to look like a progressive individual in doing so.

Paddy Turley’s stable dominated the two-day Necarne fixture with four winners, and his Scope To Improve (91++) produced a performance that looked above the typical auction maiden grade.

The ‘regular’ four-year-old maiden on the same card saw Tiptoptim (92+) take control of the race some way out, and he would look value for more than the winning margin of seven and a half lengths would suggest.

At Dawstown, Walks In June (91+) really asserted on the run-in to win going away in the manner of horse who stays the trip particularly well, while Moon Over America (91+) got the better of a very green rival in the second division.